System and method for enabling multi-modal communication

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for a multi-tenant communication platform. At a multi-tenant communication platform, and responsive to authentication of a communication request provided by an external system, a routing address record of the communication platform is determined that matches a communication destination of the communication request. The matching routing address record associates the communication destination with a plurality of external communication providers. At least one communication provider associated with the matching routing address record is selected, and a request to establish communication with the communication destination is provided to each selected communication provider. The communication request specifies the communication destination and account information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/980,749, filed on 17 Apr. 2014, which is incorporated in itsentirety by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the telecommunication field, andmore specifically to a new and useful system and method for enablingmulti-modal communication in the telecommunication field.

BACKGROUND

Mobile internet has brought about a wide variety of modes ofcommunication. Mobile phone devices are capable of telephonycommunication such as SMS, MMS, and PSTN voice calls, as well as IPbased communication such as client application messaging and VoIP.Despite the numerous modes of communication, communication applicationsare limited to the initial mode of established communication.Additionally, the internet and the growth of internet enabled mobiledevices have led to the expansion and wide adoption of over the top(OTT) communication as an alternative to communicating through channelsprovided by traditional telecommunication entities, such as phoneservice providers. The use of OTT entities can fragment thecommunication channels so that only those within an OTT provider cancommunicate. Thus, there is a need in the telecommunication field tocreate a new and useful system and method for enabling multi-modalcommunication. This invention provides such a new and useful system andmethod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is schematic representation of a system of a first preferredembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a communication flow diagram of a method sending anasynchronous message;

FIG. 3 is a communication flow diagram of a method establishing asynchronous communication session;

FIG. 4 is a communication flow diagram of a method enforcing an urgencyparameter of a request;

FIG. 5 is a communication flow diagram of a method for responding toresponses from a destination;

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a method for enrolling routingoptions of a preferred embodiment;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are communication flow diagrams of a method for enrollingrouting options of a preferred embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a chart view of a method of an embodiment;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are chart views of a method of an embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is an architecture diagram of an embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of preferred embodiments of the invention isnot intended to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments, butrather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use thisinvention.

1. System for Enabling Multi-Modal Communication

As shown in FIG. 1, a system 100 for enabling multi-modal communicationof a preferred embodiment can include a communication system 110 with aplurality of routing options 112 a content conversion engine 114, arouting system 120 that includes a plurality of routing option profiles122, and an endpoint information repository 130. The system functions toenable transparent multi-modal communication through a communicationplatform. The multi-modal communication is preferably transparent tousers of the system in that an entity requesting communication expressescommunication intent, and the system appropriately establishes thecommunication with a desired endpoint using a suitable transportprotocol. Additionally, the system can manage full-duplex multi-modalcommunication—message and communication session responses can besimilarly transparently managed by the system.

In one preferred embodiment, the system can additionally oralternatively function to facilitate communication through one or moreOTT communication providers. An OTT entity is preferably a third partycommunication platform. The OTT entity preferably communicates is aninternet protocol (IP) communication, and may use proprietarycommunication protocols. OTTs are preferably application operable onmobile devices and personal computing devices. An OTT entity can provideinstant message communication; picture, video, audio, and media sharing;synchronous voice, video, screen sharing and other forms of mediacommunication; and/or any suitable form of communication. Such OTTentities may provide additional services in connection to or in additionto communication. For example, an OTT entity may be a social network,primarily an instant messaging service, time-limited media sharing apps,a gaming application, conferencing systems, team/enterpriseapplications, and/or any suitable type of application with an aspect ofcommunication. The system is preferably configured to operate alongsideor as an alternative layer to communicating within the OTT system. Thesystem preferably allows at least one direction of communication with atleast one OTT entity. For example, communication can be establishedinbound to the OTT platform, but the communication may additionally oralternatively be received from the OTT and delivered to anotherdestination.

The system is preferably integrated with a multitenant communicationplatform that provides communication services to developer applicationsand services. The system is preferably implemented in combination with atelephony platform such as the one described in patent application Ser.No. 12/417,630 filed 2 Apr. 2009, entitled “System and Method forProcessing Telephony Sessions”, which is hereby incorporated in itsentirety by this reference. The telephony platform preferably includesapplication execution in connection to communications sessions and/ormessages; the telephony platform may additionally or alternativelyprovide an application programming interface (API) as an alternative forinteracting with communication functionality of the telephony platform.The telephony platform is preferably a multitenant telephony platformthat allows multiple accounts to configure telephony applications foruse on the platform. The telephony can be designed for one or moremediums of communication. The telephony platform can additionally be acloud hosted platform as a service system. The telephony platform can bea server, a server cluster, a collection of components on a distributedcomputing system, or any suitable network accessible computinginfrastructure. The system may alternatively be used in combination witha text or multi-media based messaging system, a video or voice chatsystem, a screensharing system, and/or any suitable communicationplatform.

The communication system 110 of a preferred embodiment functions toreceive communication requests and establish communications as regulatedby input of the routing system 120 and the communication cost service130. The communication service 110 can comprise of one or more servicesthat establish communication through various channels and over varyingprotocols of the plurality of routing options 112.

The communication system 110 preferably includes a communication requestinput to receive communication requests. A communication requestpreferably specifies a communication destination. The communicationdestination can be a communication endpoint such as a telephone number,a short code phone number, a SIP address, a communication accountidentifier, and/or any suitable communication endpoint. Thecommunication request additionally will include an origin identifier. Ina first variation, the origin identifier will be the communicationendpoint that will be connected or that will be indicated as the sender.The communication endpoint can be some variety of communicationendpoints as described above. In some cases, proxy communicationendpoints can be established if the endpoints of the legs of thecommunication do not use compatible forms of endpoints. Thecommunication endpoint of the origin can be the same type or a differenttype of communication endpoint as the communication destination. Theorigin identifier can be explicitly included in the communicationrequest or the origin identifier can be associated with an accountassociated with the communication request. A communication medium may beimplicit for the communication system such as in the situation whereonly one medium is available, but the communication medium mayalternatively be specified in the request. The medium can specify ageneral form of the communication, such as voice, video, text,synchronous, and/or asynchronous. The medium can alternatively specifyparticular protocols of communication such as SMS, MMS, PSTN, SIP, anOTT communication identity (e.g., an application or social networkname), and the like. In appropriate communication requests, frequentlyasynchronous communication requests, the content of the communicationmay be included in the request. For example, the text for an SMS messageis preferably included in the communication request. In othervariations, the communication request is for establishing a synchronouscommunication session between the source and the destination such as ina voice or video call where communication can occur between at least twocommunication endpoints in real-time. Additionally a request can includean urgency property, which determines communication guarantees and TTL(Time to live) procedures of an established communication.

The communication request is preferably received using an applicationprogramming interface (API). More preferably the communication requestis received through a representational state transfer (REST) API,Restful (i.e., having characteristics of a REST API) can include thecharacteristics of having a uniform interface separating client andservers, the client-server communication is stateless where allinformation to process a client request is transferred in the request;cacheable requests if specified, interoperability with a layered serviceinfrastructure, and/or a uniform interface between clients and servers.The API can be exposed externally such that requests directly originatefrom outside entities. The API can alternatively be an internal API usedduring operation of the telephony platform.

The communication request can alternatively be received from an incomingcommunication through a supported communication transport protocol.Preferably the communication platform acts as a proxy or register for anumber of endpoints, such that communications initiated outside thecommunication platform and directed at endpoints registered by theplatform are routed to the communication platform for handling. Thecommunication platform can include mappings of endpoints toapplications, other destination endpoints, or use any suitable logic todetermine a content and destination of a communication. Processing ofincoming communications can be used to enable two-way transformation ofcommunications between at least two endpoints.

The plurality of routing options 112 of a preferred embodiment functionsto service communications from the system to at least one destinationendpoint. The plurality or routing options 112 preferably includes a setof different communication services that target different transportprotocols. For example, the plurality of routing options 112 can includean SMS service, MMS service, a push notification service, an IPmessaging service, proprietary third party OTT messaging service,proprietary third party OTT communication service, PSTN service, SIPvoice service, Video communication service, screensharing service, faxservice, email service, and/or any suitable communication service. Eachof the communication services can include dedicated communicationservice instances for different routing options (e.g., differentcarriers, regions, and the like). Alternatively, a communication servicecan use multiple different routing options when communicating. Therouting options can be used in transmitting messages, receivingmessages, managing synchronous communication sessions, or performing anysuitable operation of a given transport protocol. Depending on themessage medium and possibly the origin and destination endpoints, therouting options may be different channel protocols directed at differentservice provider destinations. For an SMS message, the routing optionsmay be SMPP connections to various service provider destinations. Therouting options of an MMS message can be SMTP connections to variousservice provider destinations (for MM4) or alternatively they can bevarious service resources accessed over HTTP/SOAP (for MM7). A voicecall can have routing options including PSTN channels of differentcarriers, SIP, and other protocols. The routing options preferablyinclude various commercial relationships between the service providerand the communication platform. The routing options can additionallyspan multiple mediums/transport protocols. For example, a message routermay be configured to selectively transmit a message using a routingoption selected from SMS routing options, proprietary push notificationrouting options (e.g., Apple or Google push notifications) andapplication messaging routing options (e.g., message sent to a Whatsappuser).

The content conversion engine 114 of a preferred embodiment functions totransform content from a first form suitable for a first protocol to asecond form suitable for a second form. The content conversion enginecan include various media processing services, routines, and modules.The content conversion engine 114 can be a standalone service of aplatform or alternatively integrated within a variety of othercomponents such as the various routing option services 112. The contentconversion engine 114 can include various media processing componentssuch as a media transcoding engine, text-to-speech (TTS) service, speechrecognition engine, and other suitable media processing services. Thecontent conversion engine 114 can additionally include contentformatting services that ensure content is suitable for communicationover a selected routing option. Different routing options can havedifferent rules such as character limits, media size limits, metadatainformation, security tokens, and other suitable communicationproperties. The formatting services can translate content to a formatsuitable for a message. For example, text content may require beingsplit in to multiple messages for delivery over SMS. The contentconversion engine 114 can transform content media prior to delivery to adestination. For asynchronous messages, the media is transformed andthen transmitted. In synchronous communication the content conversionengine 114 could stream the converted media content such as downsampling an inbound audio stream and routing to an endpoint with acommunication channel with lower bandwidth.

The routing system 120 functions to generate at least one possiblerouting option for the outbound routing of the communication service110. The routing system 120 receives routing requests from thecommunication system 110. The routing system 120 is configured toprocess the request and use properties of the request to generate atleast one selected/recommended routing option. More preferably therouting system generates a set of at least two routing options andreturns the list to the communication system 110. The set or list ofrouting options can be prioritized or include parameters that can beused to select a desired routing option. The routing system 120preferably includes a routing table. The routing table includes a listof available routing option profiles 122. In one variation, a routingoption profile in the routing table preferably includes an assignedpriority and a weight. The priority and weight may be assigned fordifferent communication parameters. For example, the prefix of adestination phone number is preferably associated with various routingoptions each having a priority and weight. The routing table can includeadditionally or alternative parameters associated with the differentrouting options such as quality score, regional associations (e.g.,related country codes or area codes or geographic proximity), quotaprioritizations, internal cost (e.g., cost to the platform), effectiveinternal cost (e.g., cost to transmit requested content consideringtransforming the content into multiple messages), and/or any suitableparameter used in selecting a routing option. The quota prioritizationparameter can be used to prioritize a routing option in response to acontractual obligation. Some routing options can be maintained throughcontractual obligations of meeting a quota of communications (e.g.,number of calls, number of messages, rate of communication). This quotaprioritization parameter can be dynamically updated or fixed based onthe communication restriction. The quota prioritization can be used topositively count towards the selection of that routing option (e.g., ifa system wants to meet a certain quota of messages) or alternativelynegative impact selection (e.g., if a system wants to avoid going over alimit). The relative properties for the associated routing options areused to generate a route priority list. The routing priority list is acustomized list of routing options prioritized for a particularcommunication request. Multiple routing options are prioritized in orderof preference. The listed routing options may not have indicatedpreference and be a sub-set of the full set of routing options.

The routing option profiles 122 functions to characterize differentchannels of communication available to the communication platform. Asmentioned above a routing option can exist for large variety oftransport protocols such as the communication protocols for SMSmessaging, MMS messaging, push notifications, an IP messaging,proprietary third party OTT messaging or synchronous communication, PSTNvoice, SIP voice, video communication service, screensharing, faxing,email, and/or any suitable communication protocol. The routing optionscan include parameters that can be used in selecting a routing optionbased on content type and/or urgency properties. When translatingbetween different modes of communication, the different transportprotocols can have different prioritization. For example, mediamessaging is preferably sent through a routing option with similar mediasupport. The routing system 120 may additionally include a routing tableinterface such that an administrator or client device may update theparameters used to determine the communication routing. Routing optionscan preferably be added, removed, or updated. In one exemplary use case,an administrator may need to update the routing options based oncontract changes with various carriers. In another exemplary use case,communication performance may unexpectedly drop for a carrier. Anadministrator could easily edit the routing table such thatcommunications avoid that carrier until the issue is resolved. In yetanother use case, communication quality of a used routing option ismeasured and used to update a quality parameter of a routing option. Inanother variation, the routing table interface is an applicationprogramming interface (API) such that parameters of the routing tablemay be automatically updated.

In one variation, an account can configure routing option profiles,which function to define routing options and routing option preferencesfor particular accounts and/or subsets of communication within anaccount. Various routing options may be configured for an endpoint. Aphone number may be able to do voice calls, SMS messages, MMS messages,VoIP calls, or communicate using a third party OTT service. Various OTTentities may be registered for an endpoint, and since most of the OTTregistration is achieved organically based on user activity, there willnot be a uniform set of options across all endpoints. Additionally, agiven account (e.g., one of an OTT provider) will want to allowcommunication originating from the outside OTT entity to be terminatedin particular OTT services. For example social network A may not wantmessages to automatically rerouted to social network B if social networkA is not registered. A routing option profile can exist for a particularrouting option. The routing option profile identifies approved (orconversely prohibited) routing options for communications relating to aparticular routing option. Additionally, the set of approved routingoptions can be prioritized so that communication can default to the nexthighest priority if the first routing option is not suitable for aparticular communication. For example, an OTT entity may want thecommunication to first be completed using the OTT service, but if thatis not available MMS is used, then SMS, then finally a second selectedOTT entity. In this example, a third OTT entity may not be part of therouting profile, and accordingly communication will not be terminated inthe third OTT for the subset of communications related to the routingoption profile. Additionally, the routing option profile can specifydifferent options for different forms of communication. For example,text messages may be defined to prioritize the routing options in onemanner, while media messages prioritize routing options in a secondmanner. The routing option profile can be set for each account.Preferably each OTT entity will have an OTT account within the system,within which an administrator can set the routing option profile.Additionally, non-OTT accounts can set routing option profiles to definehow communications are routed.

The information repository 130 functions to store and manage informationabout communication endpoints. A communication endpoint preferably has arecord stored in a database or distributed through several databasetables. An endpoint record may include various properties of acommunication endpoint such as a unique identifier of the telephonyendpoint, the direct inbound address (e.g., the phone number or shortcode), alternative endpoint identifiers (e.g., list of associated OTTservices), carrier, origin properties, a cleanliness/quality score,capability properties (e.g., SMS, MMS, Fax, etc.), status (e.g., mobile,landline, client application type, toll free, etc.), screen resolutionand display capabilities, language, service plan (e.g., do they get freeSMS/MMS messages), activity patterns (e.g., when is the communication,who does the endpoint communicate with, what does the endpointcommunicate, etc.), presence information for one or more routingoptions, and/or other suitable properties of a telephony endpoint.Origin properties can include NPs (e.g., area code), NXX (e.g., threedigit vanity digits of a number), ISO country codes, region propertiesand/or any suitable origin properties. The records may include varioussets of information depending on the information that is collected.

The information repository 130 is preferably updated with each OTT thatregisters or establishes a new connection with an endpoint. Preferably,a phone number is used as a primary endpoint identifier, an OTT entitywill create associations between a user and phone numbers of a device.

2. Method for Enabling Multi-Modal Communication

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a method S100 for enabling multi-modalcommunication of a preferred embodiment can include maintaining routingoptions of at least two transport protocols S110, receiving acommunication request S120, selecting routing option S130, transformingcontent of communication request to compatible form of the selectedrouting option S140, and transmitting content to a destination endpointon the selected routing option S150. The method functions to normalizecommunication to be automatically communicate according to communicationintent. The method can be used in transmitting an outboundcommunication, but is preferably implemented in two communicationconversations/sessions so that responses to communications are similarlytransformed to an appropriate transport protocol. The method ispreferably used to unify communication across a plurality ofcommunication protocols. Some exemplary communication transportprotocols can include SMS, MMS, Fax, email, IP messaging, pushnotifications, PSTN voice, SIP voice, SIP video, IP based synchronouscommunication, and/or any suitable form of communication. As shown inFIG. 2, the method can be applied to asynchronous communication, but themethod can additionally or alternatively be applied to asynchronouscommunication as shown in FIG. 3 or a hybrid of synchronous andasynchronous transport protocols. In addition to unifying modes ofcommunication the method can unify different destination endpoints of auser.

In one implementation, the method is used by developers, applications,and services to express communication intentions, such as intendedcontent of a message or intended mode of a communication session. Forexample, an application can specify an image and text that should bedelivered to an endpoint. The method operates to deliver the content ofthe intended media, possibly transforming the final delivered format toconform to an appropriate mode of communication with the destination.

Block S110, which includes maintaining routing options of at least twotransport protocols, functions to manage at least two different modes ofcommunication. The modes of communication are preferably divided intomultiple routing options. The routing options can include differenttransport protocols, but can additionally include different carriers,suppliers of a communication channel, regional routing options of atransport protocol, or any suitable route variation. Informationrelating to the routing options can be stored in a table or database ofrouting option profiles. The routing option profiles can be used inselecting preferred, optimal, or otherwise capable routing options whencommunicating.

Block S120, which includes receiving a communication request, functionsto obtain an instruction for sending or establishing an outboundcommunication. The communication request is preferably received at acommunication service, which as described can be a server or machinethat establish a communication or at least direct a secondary service toestablish a communication. The communication service may be specificallyconfigured for a particular medium or mode of communication such asPublic Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) calls, Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) voice or video calls, Short Message Service (SMS)messages, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, IP basedmessaging, push notifications, proprietary communication protocols,and/or any suitable communication medium. The communication service maybe used for a plurality of communication mediums. A communicationrequest can include communication properties, which can include at leastone destination endpoint, one originating endpoint, communicationcontent, and/or other properties of the communication. The communicationrequest can additionally include control properties such as a max priceparameter, a quality limit, and/or other properties used to gate orcontrol communication.

In one implementation, the communication request can indicatecommunication intent. As opposed to specific communication instructions(e.g., send a SMS message to this endpoint originating from thisendpoint), the communication request can include intended communicationcontent that indicates generalized objectives of the communication. Theintended communication content can specify raw message content or mediumof communication. In the case of asynchronous communication, the requestof communication intent can include content intended for delivery andthe intended destination entity. The final form of the content, whetherthe transmitted content is text, a graphic, a video, a link to anexternal resource, an audio message, and/or any suitable medium is notexclusively determined through the request as long as the content isdelivered. Similarly, the exact destination endpoint is not strictlydefined as long as the message is delivered to the intended entity. Inthe case of synchronous communication, the mode of communication cansimilarly be generalized. The communication request can include aspecified mode of communication, which can place limits on the suitablerouting options. The possible modes can include a voice session mode(where synchronous audio should be transmitted between at least twoendpoints), a video session mode (where video and/or audio should betransmitted between at least two endpoints), and synchronous messagetransmission mode (where text, images, videos, and/or other media can bedelivered to a destination). A voice session mode can result in a voicesession (e.g., PSTN or SIP based), a video session with only audio, orany synchronous form of communication through which audio can betransmitted. A video session can be a video session or alternativelydowngraded to just audio. An asynchronous message transmission mode canresult in any executed communication that transmits desired content.Synchronous communication mediums can similarly be used when in anasynchronous message transmission mode.

Upon receiving a communication request, at least a subset of informationfrom the communication request is sent to the routing service.Preferably, the subset of information sent to the routing service issent in the form of a routing request. The subset of informationincludes communication properties specified in the communication requestof block S110. Additionally, at least a subset of information from thecommunication request may be sent to a communication cost service.Preferably, the subset of information is sent to the communication costservice in the form of a cost request. The routing request and the costrequest preferably include at least the destination of thecommunication. The routing request and/or cost request may additionallyor alternatively include content of the communication, accountinformation for the entity sending the communication request, theoriginating endpoint, the mode or medium of communication, and/or anysuitable information. The routing request and the cost request arepreferably sent in parallel but may alternatively be sent sequentiallyor in any suitable manner. The routing request and the cost request canbe independent in that how a communication is routed and the attributedcosts of that communication do not directly rely on each other. Oneexpected benefit is that the quality of communication can be increasedwhile simulating a simplified cost model to user accounts. As describedbelow, a maximum cost parameter specified in a communication request canbe accommodated after initially fulfilling the requests.

In one variation, the communication properties include a specifiedtransport mode of communication. The specified transport mode can be aset of modes of communication permitted and/or blocked for thecommunication request. The set of operational transport modes caninclude a synchronous voice session mode of communication, a synchronousvideo session mode of communication, an asynchronous messagetransmission mode of communication and/or specific permitted/prohibitedtransport protocols (e.g., SMS, MMS, push, etc.). A specified transportmode can restrict, modify, or otherwise impact the selection of routingoptions.

Block S130, which includes selecting routing option, functions todetermine a routing option of a communication. The communication requestis preferably processed through a sequence of heuristics that can beused to select appropriate routing option. Selecting a routing optioncan include identifying one or more routing option capable of completingthe communication request and identified according to a priorityheuristic. In one variation, a single routing option is selected. In analternative embodiment, a priority list of routing options is generated,and a routing option is selected from the list. The routing option ismore specifically capable of completing the communication to acommunication endpoint mapped to the specified destination endpoint. Thespecified endpoint may not be the receiving endpoint. A secondaryendpoint associated with the specified endpoint may be targeted. Forexample, if a phone number is specified, but IP based messaging isinstead used to communication with a username endpoint, wherein the userof the phone number operates the username endpoint.

In querying routing options, the intended communication content can beanalyzed to identify suitable transport protocols. The routing optionsof suitable transport protocols can then be filtered accordingdestination endpoint and intended content and/or intended mode ofcommunication. A destination can be identified as including anassociated carrier, a country/regional location property, and/or devicecapabilities. Routing options having been reduced to routings optionscapable of communication intended content and capable of delivering tothe intended destination can then be further filtered according toavailability. Some routing options can be suffering from down time orquality issues at any given time—such routing options are preferably notconsidered for selection.

Selection heuristics can consider many factors. The heuristics canconsider content and mode of communication of a routing option,reliability of a routing option, feature capability of a routing option,urgency compliant features, price of communication, user presenceinformation, user preference of communication, user history ofcommunication, and/or any suitable factor that impacts an appropriaterouting option.

A first heuristic can give weight to a routing option based on theinvolved content transformations. Different transport protocols can begiven different preference depending on the original form of content.For example, sending a text message would give preference to a routingoption involving an SMS with text over a routing option involvingtransforming the text to text-to-speech audio and playing over a PSTNphone call. The medium of intended content is preferably preserved, butthe medium of content can be transformed depending on available routingoptions and/or other heuristic priorities.

A second heuristic can give weight to routing options according toquality scores, reliability, communication confirmation, and othersuitable reliability and urgency compliance features. In one variation,a communication request can be accompanied by a TTL limit. The TTL limitcan define a time window in which a message is delivered. Differentrouting options can have varying time to delivery predictions, and therouting option can be selected to satisfy the TTL restriction.Additionally, a communication request can include different confirmationrequirements. A request may specify that an acknowledgment confirm themessage was transmitted successfully or similarly that the message wasread by the end user. Different transport protocols will have varyingcapabilities or mechanisms to provide such verification oracknowledgment. If a requested feature is not support by a routingoption, that routing option may not be considered.

A third heuristic can give weight to routing options that have notsatisfied a communication quota or contractual obligation. A quota canbe set for a time frame, and a routing option has the target ofsatisfying the quota in that time frame. For example, an SMS routingoption can have a quota of five thousand messages in a month. Selectionof a routing option within a priority list or prioritization within thelist can be based on satisfying the quota. For example, a routing optionfurther from a quota can be prioritized above a routing option that hassatisfied a quota, surpassed a quota, or does not include a quota asshown in FIG. 6. Additionally, a quota can be weighted to indicateimportance of the quota. For example, some routing options may have amore important quota goal (e.g., a routing option will be cancelled by acarrier), and other routing options may have less important quota goal(e.g., special discounting pricing isn't provided if not satisfied).Various rules and properties can be encoded into a routing option tofacilitate relative prioritization/selection of routing options. Oneexemplary use of a quota includes a routing option using a particularnetwork carrier that was negotiated at an internal cost rate that has aminimum number of communications that should be met. Another exemplaryuse of a quota may include regulating a routing option with a rate limitof SMS messages sent in a minute allowed over a network carrier of asecond routing option.

A fourth heuristic can give weight to routing options with lowerinternal cost (e.g., payment to outside partners and/or operationalcost). A related heuristic can include calculating effective internalcost of a routing option. The effective internal cost is the predictedcost to the communication cost to the platform. In some cases,communicating over a first transport protocol has differentcommunication limits compared to a second transport protocol and as aresult a routing option of the first transport protocol may requiretransmitting the intended content in one form (e.g., in a singlemessage) and the routing option of the second transport protocol mayrequire transmitting the intended content in a second form (e.g., splitinto two or more messages). The effective internal cost can be thenumber of messages to transmit the intended content multiplied by theinternal cost of an individual message transmitted on the routing optionas shown in FIG. 7. The cost can be a financial cost and is frequentlydependent on the specific routing option. The difference between thecommunication cost and the effective internal cost can be the profit ofthe platform for an individual communication. The priority heuristic ispreferably in place to increase profits across a plurality ofcommunications.

A fifth heuristic can give weight to routing options with particularfeature capabilities (e.g., message confirmation, no message sizerestrictions, multimedia support). A feature heuristic can be enforcedif specified content specifies a desired delivered format.

A sixth heuristic can give considers presence information of thedestination. A presence service can be integrated into the platform andprovide availability of a user across multiple devices and/or protocols.For example, a user may be accessible through a phone voice session, SMSand MMS on the phone, push notifications on the phone, and through an IPprotocol of an application on a second browser device. Presenceinformation can indicate if any of those channels are active,prioritization/preference of the channels.

A seventh heuristic can consider communication history and/ordestination preference. Preference of a destination can be inferred fromcommunication. Modes of communication used to initiate outboundcommunication from an endpoint can be considered indicators of userpreference. Alternatively, a user profile can be configured withprioritization of endpoints and/or protocols.

These factors and other suitable prioritization factors can be combinedin any suitable manner to form a prioritization heuristic used inranking routing options.

In one variation, selecting routing option can use an account definedrouting profile that defines the prioritization of routing options. Inthe case of routing options including a plurality of different OTTservices, there may be various business/competitive conflicts with usingparticular routing options. Defined routing profile tables canfacilitate selecting and prioritizing routing options from the full setof routing options. While account-defined routing profiles may be onemechanism. Routing rules may additionally be automatically determinedand applied. Endpoint-to-endpoint communication can be monitored androuting channel preference can be determined. In one variation, thepreference can be monitored and determined on a per-endpoint basis. Forexample a first endpoint may prefer communicating with a second endpointusing one OTT service and communicating with a third endpoint using asecond OTT service. In a simpler implementation, the previous mode ofcommunication of an endpoint can be monitored and used as a defaultrouting option.

Block S140, which includes transforming content of communication requestto compatible form of the selected routing option, functions to convertmedia content of the communication to a format suitable fortransmitting. In asynchronous communication, the content is convertedand then transmitted to the destination. In synchronous communication,the content can be transcoded and streamed to a destination such thatthe content/medium is generated in substantially realtime with thecommunication session. The form of the transformation is determinedbased on the originating format of the communication content and theselected routing option. If the routing option is the same as theoriginating transport protocol, transformation of content may beskipped. Transformation can include translating to a text form,generating a URI link to the content, generating an audio version of thecontent, generating a video version of the content, satisfying protocolrestrictions (e.g., character limits, file size limits, encoding, andthe like), segmenting into multiple messages, grouping multiple contentinto a single object, supplying unspecified metadata, and/or making anysuitable transformation. Exemplary transformations may include SMS toMMS, MMS to SMS, SMS/MMS to IP push/proprietary IP/client application,SMS/MMS to email/fax, fax/email to SMS/MMS, IP messaging to SMS/MMS,Voice to SMS, Voice to MMS, SMS to voice, Voice to video, Video tovoice, and/or any suitable form of transformation.

Block S150, which includes transmitting content to a destinationendpoint on the selected routing option, functions to establish orexecute the communication. The communication is preferably implementedon the selected routing option using the transformed content. In somevariations, communication confirmation of delivery or of reading can berequested. The delivery and reading request can be fulfilled through thetransport protocol of the selected routing option. As shown in FIG. 4,an urgency parameter can specify that a receipt acknowledgment be made.Subsequent communications in asynchronous and synchronous forms ofcommunication can be processed to select an appropriate routing option,optionally using communication history to influence routing optionselection. In asynchronous communication (e.g., messaging), responsescan be received from the delivery endpoint. A similar process can beinvoked to determine the route used to deliver the response as shown inFIG. 5, but alternatively a routing option of the communication thatprompted the initial communication response can be used. In synchronouscommunication, the destination endpoint can be bridged with theoriginating endpoint.

3. Method for Enrolling Routing Options in a Communication Platform

As shown in FIG. 6, a method S200 for enrolling routing option in acommunication platform can include receiving a registration request of acommunication provider directed at an endpoint S210, transmitting aregistration communication to the endpoint S220, receiving confirmationresponse of the endpoint S230, updating an endpoint repository with thecommunication provider information S240, and signaling to theconfirmation response to the communication provider S250. The methodfunctions to allow an OTT communication entity to register and verify anendpoint to associate with an account on the OTT. The OTT entity willpreferably trigger the method when a user is registering for an accountor pairing a new device to an account. After the new device is pairedthrough the method, the OTT entity can use the additional endpoint as anadditional communication option. While phone numbers may be useable as auniform endpoint address for different modes of communication such asPSTN, SMS, MMS, and fax, OTT account identifiers exist within theecosystem of the OTT. As OTT providers become more widely user, thecommunication environment can become fragmented. The method provides acommon layer for OTT entities to manage the integration of multipleOTTs. The method is preferably used continually for a variety ofendpoints, and eventually the method can achieve a relationship graph ofendpoints and OTT providers. The method S200 can be used with the methodS100 above to facilitate multi-modal routing and leveraging the additionand integration of OTT routing options with other modes ofcommunication. In one variation, a benefit of the method can includeproviding endpoint information. In another variation, a benefit canprovide additional measures of device verification. In anothervariation, the endpoint repository can be used in augmenting multi-modalor selective mode of communication.

Block S210, which includes receiving a registration request of acommunication provider directed at an endpoint, functions to be promptedby an OTT provider to register an endpoint on behalf of the OTTprovider. Preferably, the communication platform includes an API thatincludes one or more calls that facilitate requesting the registrationof an endpoint. The registration request preferably includes a specifieddestination address to be registered. The destination address ispreferably a phone number, but the destination address may alternativelyby an account identifier, a username, an email address, or any suitableendpoint address. The registration address may additionally include aunique identifier within the scope of the provider, which functions toprovide a mechanism for specifying an account associated within thesystem of the OTT provider. The registration request is preferably madeon behalf of some user of the OTT service. The provider uniqueidentifier can be a username, and email address, a random alphanumeric.The provider unique identifier can add an alternative way of specifyingthe platform endpoint. A provider unique identifier may not be providedand the existing endpoint identifier. For example, the phone number incombination with the name of the OTT provider can be used as a proxy fora provider unique identifier of the endpoint.

The registration request preferably additionally includes accountinformation. The account information can include authenticationtoken(s), an account identifier, OTT identifier, or any suitable sourceinformation. The OTT will preferably initiate the registration API callwhen a customer attempts to pair a phone number or other communicationendpoint with an account on the OTT. For example, within an account pageon an OTT provider, a user can enter a phone number and submit thenumber. The OTT provider will preferably send the API request to thecommunication platform to complete the registration. From the userstandpoint, the communication platform is transparent. After submittingthe phone number, the user will preferably receive a communication onhis or her phone, which the user will be able confirm. The communicationplatform can alternatively provide alternative interfaces to the OTTproviders. For example, an embeddable UI can be provided forfacilitating registration user interface. The UI can be embedded in theOTT website or application (e.g., as an iframe) to facilitate receivingregistration.

Block S220, which includes transmitting a registration communication tothe endpoint, functions to deliver a message or communicate with theendpoint. Preferably the communication platform has at least one routingoption available for routing to the destination endpoint. In thevariation where the destination endpoint is a phone number, a SMS or MMSmessage can be delivered to the device. Alternatively, an automatedvoice call can be delivered over PSTN, SIP, or an alternative VoIPcommunication protocol (e.g., WebRTC). The registration communicationpreferably includes a code or an alternative identifier. In onevariation, the registration communication will include a 6 digit pinthat can be entered within an application, website, or any suitableinterface. The entering of the pin codes signals successful delivery ofthe registration communication and that the owner of the endpoint isconfirming the registration. In another variation, the registrationcommunication includes a unique URI. When the delivered, the user canclick the link to confirm the registration. Since the URI is unique,access of the resource can signal confirmation of the registration.Alternatively, the URI may display options to confirm or deny theregistration. In another variation, the registration communication is amessage specifying response options. The message could be a textmessage, an image, a video, or any suitable media message. In anothervariation, transmitting a registration communication includes making avoice or video call. The voice or video call can be used to receiveconfirmation or some form of a response during the call (e.g., throughDTMF or voice recognition).

Block S230, which includes receiving confirmation response of theendpoint, functions to determine the results of the registration withthe endpoint. The confirmation response preferably includes confirmationof pairing the endpoint with the OTT. The user will preferably beexpecting the communication and will know that confirming will completethe process. In one variation, the confirmation response is received inresponse to the registration communication from the destinationendpoint. For example, the conformation response is an SMS or MMSmessage reply. The message reply can include a response such as “YES” or“NO” to indicate if the endpoint should or should not be registered inassociation with the request. The confirmation response mayalternatively be made during the registration communication if theregistration communication is a synchronous communication. In thevariation where a pincode is entered in an interface, the interfacecould be one created and provided by the OTT provider or any suitableoutside provider. An API call is preferably provided to inform thecommunication platform of the user response. The OTT provider (oroutside provider) can use the API call to inform the communicationplatform.

The method can additionally include verifying a device through anendpoint repository, which functions to use existing endpointinformation to add an additional layer in registration. The OTT providermay not have access to information outside of their own platform, butthe multi-modal communication aspect of the communication platform canenable insights to be pulled from previous registrations and/orcommunications. The communication platform will preferably retaininformation about various endpoints in the endpoint repository. In somecases an endpoint may already be registered with other OTT entities orotherwise be known within the communication platform due to priorcommunication interactions. The past history of a known endpoint can beused in confirming registration. In one variation, automaticverification of a destination endpoint may be enabled if the endpoint isalready confirmed through another OTT. In another variation, theverifying of the device may use fraud detection heuristics or othertriggers to prevent confirmation of the registration.

Block S240, which includes updating an endpoint repository with thecommunication provider information, functions to record the registrationof an endpoint with a new OTT entity. The endpoint repository willpreferably include a set of records for different endpoints. Eachendpoint will preferably include a parameter or parameters that definethe set of routing options. The set of routing options preferablyinclude the OTT entities that have registered with the endpoint. An OTTregistration can indicate that the user of the endpoint has paired anaccount of the OTT with the phone. In some situations, this registrationcan be a signal that an application of the OTT is used by the user or atleast has been used by the user.

The endpoint repository is additionally used beyond just registrationbut in facilitating and tracking communication through the OTT entity.The endpoint repository can be updated and maintained to signaldifferent aspects of the endpoint and related OTT entities and otherrouting options. Preferably the endpoint repository will storeinformation relating to the history of each OTT entity such as aregistration timestamp, time of last communication through the OTTentity on the communication platform, preference rating of an OTT entity(e.g., order ranking of OTT entities or routing options according tofrequency of use). The endpoint repository can additionally be used insynchronizing changes amongst OTT entities. In one variation, a changeof registration of one OTT entity may be applied to other OTTregistrations. For example, if a user gets a new phone number andupdates the registration for a first OTT provider, then the method mayinclude notifying a second OTT provider previously registered of thephone number change, automatically migrating the updated number for thesecond OTT provider, invalidating the registration of the second OTTprovider until re-registered, and/or any suitable action.

Block S250, which includes signaling the confirmation response to thecommunication provider, functions to update the communication providerof the registration result. The signaling of the confirmation responsepreferably includes a confirmation that the endpoint successfullycompleted registration or that the registration was not successfullyconfirmed. Unsuccessful confirmation may simply be a denial ofregistration, but the denial or error response may additionally includea reason such as cancellation (e.g., user changes his mind) or fraudreporting (e.g., user did not initiate the registration and flags therequest). The signaling can be performed in a variety of approaches. Ina first variation, the confirmation response is included in a responseto the registration request API call as shown in FIG. 7. In anothervariation, the confirmation response is posted or submitted to aspecified resource of the OTT provider. In yet another variation, aresource in the communication platform is updated, and the OTT providercan poll the resource to obtain the status as shown in FIG. 8. Forexample, the registration request API call may trigger a response fromthe communication platform that includes a resource identifier (e.g., aURI). The OTT entity can poll the resource identifier until theconfirmation response is obtained. Prior to receiving a confirmationresponse, the resource identifier can return a ‘pending’ response or analternative response to indicate that the registration process is stillin progress.

The method can additionally include providing endpoint information ofthe endpoint repository, which functions to enable access, use, andinteraction with the endpoint repository. Providing endpoint informationpreferably includes providing API access to at least a portion of theinformation of the endpoint repository. The API access preferablyincludes public API access that is usable by customers/users. The APIaccess may alternatively or additionally be private used within thecommunication platform. In one variation, an API call can query aspecific endpoint and retrieve information about OTT registration withthe number. As discussed above, the usage relating to each OTT mayadditionally be accessible. A portion of the API may be openedpublically so that any entity can check if a particular endpoint isregistered with a specific OTT entity. In another variation, some or allthe information may be limited to OTT associated accounts in thecommunication platform. The OTT entity can have a special account set up(e.g., the account used to submit the registration requests). In onevariation, the OTT entity can query all the phone numbers registered forthe OTT entity. After registration, an OTT entity can additionallyupdate registration such as canceling/terminating registration.

4. Multi-Tenant Communication Platform

As shown in FIG. 9, a multitenant communication platform 900 includes asystem 901 for enabling multi-modal communication. In some embodiments,the system 901 includes a communication system 910, a routing system920, and an endpoint information repository 930. In some embodiments,the system 901 includes a communication profile repository 916.

In some implementations, the communication system 910 includes acommunication API module 911 and a content converter 917. In someimplementations, the content converter 917 is similar to the contentconverter 114 of FIG. 1.

In some implementations, the routing system 920 includes a routingaddress record determination module 914 and a communication providerselection module 915.

In some implementations, the endpoint information repository includes aregistration API module 912.

As shown in FIG. 9, the communication platform 900 is communicativelycoupled with external systems 921, 922 and 923, communications providers931 and 932, and devices 943 and 944. The device 943 includes a deviceendpoint 953, and the device 944 includes a device endpoint 954. Theexternal system 921 includes an application server 961. The externalsystem 922 includes a device 941 that has a device endpoint 951. Theexternal system 923 includes an application server 962 and a device 942,and the device 942 includes a device endpoint 952. The device 942 iscommunicatively coupled with the application server 962.

In some implementations, the communication system 910 is similar to thecommunication system 110 of FIG. 1, the routing system 920 is similar tothe routing system 120 of FIG. 1, and the endpoint informationrepository 930 is similar to the endpoint information repository 130 ofFIG. 1.

The multitenant communication platform 900 provides communicationservices to developer applications and services. In someimplementations, the communication platform 900 is a telephony platformsuch as the one described in patent application Ser. No. 12/417,630filed 2 Apr. 2009, entitled “System and Method for Processing TelephonySessions”, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by thisreference. The telephony platform preferably includes applicationexecution in connection to communications sessions and/or messages; thetelephony platform may additionally or alternatively provide anapplication programming interface (API) as an alternative forinteracting with communication functionality of the telephony platform.The telephony platform is preferably a multitenant telephony platformthat allows multiple accounts to configure telephony applications foruse on the platform. The telephony can be designed for one or moremediums of communication. The telephony platform can additionally be acloud hosted platform as a service system. The telephony platform can bea server, a server cluster, a collection of components on a distributedcomputing system, or any suitable network accessible computinginfrastructure.

In some implementations, the system 901 is used in combination with atext or multi-media based messaging system, a video or voice chatsystem, a screensharing system, and/or any suitable communicationplatform.

Multi-Tenant

The communication platform 900 is multitenant meaning that thecommunication platform 900 can be used for the processing ofcommunication requests for accounts (of the communication platform 900)for a plurality of external systems.

Components

As shown in FIG. 9, the system 901 includes the following components:the communication system 910, the routing system 920, the endpointinformation repository 930, the profile repository 916, thecommunication API module 911, the content converter 917, the routingaddress record determination module 914, the communication providerselection module 915, and the registration API module 912.

In the example embodiment of FIG. 9, the components (e.g., 910, 920,930, 911, 912, 914, 915, 916, and 917 of FIG. 9) include instructionsthat are executed by any combination of one or more processing units. Inthe example embodiment, each processing unit includes one or moreprocessors communicatively coupled to one or more of a RAM, ROM, andmachine-readable storage medium; the one or more processors of theprocessing unit receive instructions stored by the one or more of a RAM,ROM, and machine-readable storage medium via a bus; and the one or moreprocessors execute the received instructions. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit is an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Insome embodiments, the processing unit is a SoC (System-on-Chip). In someembodiments, one processing unit includes the components of the system901. In some embodiments, a plurality of processing units include thecomponents of the system 901. In some embodiments, the one or moreprocessing units are included in one or more server devices.

5. Method for a Multi-Tenant Communication Platform

As shown in FIG. 10, a method 1000 for a multi-tenant communicationplatform (e.g., 900 of FIG. 9) in accordance with an example embodimentincludes, at a multi-tenant communication platform, and responsive toauthentication of a communication request (e.g., 1099 of FIG. 10)provided by an external system (e.g., external systems 921-923 of FIG.9), the communication request specifying a communication destination andaccount information: determining a routing address record (e.g., therouting address records 1081-1083) of the communication platform thatmatches the communication destination of the communication request, thematching routing address record associating the communicationdestination with a plurality of external communication providers (e.g.,the communication providers 931 and 932 of FIG. 9) (process S1010);selecting at least one communication provider associated with thematching routing address record (process S1020); and providing a requestto establish communication with the communication destination to eachselected communication provider (process S1030).

In the example embodiment of FIG. 10, the method of FIG. 10 isimplemented in the multi-tenant communication platform 900 of FIG. 9. Insome implementations, the communication system 910 performs theprocesses S1011 and S1030, and the routing system 920 performs theprocesses S1010, S1020 and S1012. In some embodiments, the method ofFIG. 10 is implemented in any suitable type of multi-tenantcommunication platform.

In some implementations, each communication provider includes at leastone of an SMS service provider, MMS service provider, push notificationservice provider, IP messaging service provider, proprietary third partyOTT messaging service provider, proprietary third party OTTcommunication service provider, PSTN service provider, SIP voice serviceprovider, Video communication service provider, screensharing serviceprovider, fax service provider, and email service provider.

Process S1010, which includes determining a routing address record ofthe communication platform that matches the communication destination ofthe communication request, is performed responsive to process S1011(“YES” at S1011 of FIG. 10), which functions to authenticate acommunication request (e.g., the communication request 1099 of FIG. 10)provided by an external system (e.g., one of the external systems 921,922 and 923 of FIG. 9). In some embodiments, the communication request(e.g., the communication request 1099) specifies a communicationdestination and account information.

In some implementations, the account information includes an accountidentifier of the external system and an authentication token associatedwith the account identifier. In some implementations, authentication ofthe communication request includes authenticating the communicationrequest by using the authentication token, and determining that thecommunication request is permitted for an account identified by theaccount identifier. In some implementations, a communication system ofthe communication platform 900 (e.g., the communication system 910 ofFIG. 9) performs the authentication of the communication request.

In some implementations, in a case where the communication request isnot authenticated, the communication request is denied (“NO” at processS1011). In some implementations, the communication request is notauthenticated if authentication conditions are not satisfied. In someimplementations, authentication conditions include at least one of theauthentication token being valid, the communication request beingpermitted for the account identified by the account identifier (e.g., asspecified by account permissions stored at the communication platform900), the authentication token being a valid authentication token forthe account identifier, and the communication request being a validcommunication request. In some implementations, in a case where thecommunication request is not authenticated (“NO” at process S1011), thecommunication platform 900 provides the external system with anotification that the communication request has been denied.

Process S1010, which includes determining a routing address record ofthe communication platform that matches the communication destination ofthe communication request, functions to control the communication system901 (of FIG. 9) to determine the matching routing address record fromamong a plurality of routing address records (e.g., the routing addressrecords 1081-1083 of FIG. 10) stored at the communication platform 900in an endpoint information repository (e.g., the endpoint informationrepository 930 of FIG. 9).

In some implementations, each routing address record stored at thecommunication platform 900 associates a communication destination withat least one external communication provider. In some implementations,each routing address record stored at the communication platform 900associates a communication destination with a plurality of externalcommunication providers. In some implementations, at least one routingaddress record stored at the communication platform 900 associates acommunication destination with a plurality of external communicationproviders.

In some implementations, at least one of a routing address identifierand a deterministic endpoint address specified in a routing addressrecord associates the routing address record with a communicationdestination. In some implementations, deterministic endpoint addressesinclude at least one of a phone number, an email address, an IP address,and an account identifier of a communication provider. In someimplementations, communication destinations include at least one of aphone number, an email address, an IP address, and an account identifierof a communication provider In some implementations, a routing addressidentifier includes at least one of a phone number prefix (e.g., “(415)555-XXXX”), an e-mail domain (e.g., “@domain.com”), and the like. Insome implementations, a routing address record specifying a routingaddress identifier is associated with all communication destinationsthat match the routing address identifier (e.g., a prefix of thecommunication destination matches the routing address identifier). Insome implementations, a routing address record specifying adeterministic endpoint address is associated with the communicationdestination that matches the deterministic endpoint address (e.g., thecommunication destination is specified in the routing address record).

In some implementations, each communication provider (e.g., thecommunication providers 931 and 932 of FIG. 9) specified in a routingaddress record of the communication platform 900 is a communicationprovider that has registered with the communication platform 900 (e.g.,as described below for FIGS. 11A and 11B).

In some implementations, each communication provider specified in arouting address record (of the platform 900) that specifies adeterministic endpoint address is a communication provider that hasregistered with the communication platform 900 for the communicationdestination and that has been confirmed by a device endpoint (e.g., thedevice endpoints 951-954 of FIG. 9) associated with the communicationdestination (e.g., as described below for FIGS. 11A and 11B).

In some implementations, each routing address record stored at thecommunication platform 900 is one of a global routing address record andan account routing address record. Each account routing address recordspecifies an account identifier for an account of the communicationplatform 900.

In some implementations, determining the matching routing address recordfrom among the plurality of routing address records stored in theendpoint information repository includes: accessing the plurality ofrouting address records (e.g., the routing address records 1081-1083 ofFIG. 10) stored in the endpoint information repository (e.g., 930 ofFIG. 9), and for each accessed routing address record, determiningwhether the routing address record matches the communication destinationand the account identifier (of the account information) of thecommunication request (e.g., the communication request 1099 of FIG. 10).In some implementations, in a case where a routing address record thatmatches both of the communication destination and the account identifieris not identified, then a determination is made as to whether a globalrouting address record that matches the communication destination isstored at the communication platform 900.

In some implementations, determining the matching routing address recordfrom among the plurality of routing address records stored in theendpoint information repository includes: accessing the plurality ofrouting address records (e.g., the routing address records 1081-1083 ofFIG. 10) stored in the endpoint information repository (e.g., 930 ofFIG. 9), and for each accessed routing address record, determiningwhether the routing address record matches the communication destinationof the communication request (e.g., the communication request 1099 ofFIG. 10). In a case where the routing address record specifies a routingaddress identifier, a determination is made as to whether the routingaddress identifier matches the communication destination. In a casewhere the routing address record specifies a deterministic endpointaddress, a determination is made as to whether the communicationdestination that matches the deterministic endpoint address (e.g., thecommunication destination is specified in the routing address record).

In some implementations, determining the matching routing address recordfrom among the plurality of routing address records stored in theendpoint information repository includes: first determining whether atleast one routing address record exists that specifies a deterministicendpoint address that matches the communication destination. In a casewhere a routing address record that specifies a deterministic endpointaddress that matches the communication destination is not identified, asecond determination is made as to whether a routing address recordexists that specifies a routing address identifier that matches thecommunication destination.

In some implementations, determining the matching routing address recordfrom among the plurality of routing address records stored in theendpoint information repository includes: accessing the plurality ofrouting address records (e.g., the routing address records 1081-1083 ofFIG. 10) stored in the endpoint information repository (e.g., 930 ofFIG. 9), and determining routing address records that specify adeterministic endpoint address. For each routing address record thatspecifies a deterministic endpoint address, a determination is made asto whether the deterministic endpoint address matches the communicationdestination of the communication request (e.g., the communicationrequest 1099 of FIG. 10). In a case where a matching routing addressrecord that specifies a deterministic endpoint address is notdetermined, routing address records that specify a routing addressidentifier are identified from among the stored routing address records.For each routing address record that specifies a routing addressidentifier, a determination is made as to whether the routing addressidentifier matches the communication destination of the communicationrequest.

In some implementations, in a case where a matching routing addressrecord is not determined (“NO” at S1010), the communication requesthaving the unmatched communication destination is processed byperforming at least one of error handling and default routing (processS1012). In some implementations, in a case where a matching routingaddress record is not determined (“NO” at S1010), the communicationplatform 900 provides the external system with a notification that thecommunication request has been denied. In some implementations, in acase where a matching routing address record is not determined (“NO” atS1010), the communication platform 900 selects a default communicationprovider and proceeds to the process S1030 which includes providing arequest to establish communication with the communication destination tothe default communication provider, in a manner described below for theprocess S1030 of FIG. 10. In some implementations, in a case where amatching routing address record is not determined (“NO” at S1010), thecommunication platform 900 determines a plurality of defaultcommunication providers, and processing proceeds to the process S1020which includes selecting at least one communication provider from theplurality of default communication providers, in a manner describedbelow for the process S1020 of FIG. 10.

Process 1020 is performed responsive to determination of a routingaddress record of the communication platform that matches thecommunication destination of the communication request (“YES” at S1010).In some implementations, process 1020 is performed responsive todetermination of a routing address record that matches the communicationdestination and that is associated with a plurality of communicationproviders. In some implementations, in a case where the matching routingaddress record determined at the process S1020 is associated with onecommunication provider, the process 1020 is not performed.

Process S1020, which includes selecting at least one communicationprovider associated with the matching routing address record, functionsto control the routing system 920 to select at least one communicationprovider specified in the matching routing address record. In someimplementations, selection of at least one communication providerspecified in the matching routing address record is performed based on acommunication profile. In some implementations, selection of at leastone communication provider specified in the matching routing addressrecord is performed based on a communication profile in a case where thematching routing address record specifies a plurality of communicationproviders.

In some implementations, the communication profile is at least one of aglobal communication profile and an account communication profile thatis associated with the account identifier that identifies an account atthe communication platform 900 that is associated with the externalsystem. In some implementations, the account communication profile isgenerated based on the communication request (e.g., the communicationrequest 1099 of FIG. 10). In some implementations, the accountcommunication profile is included in the communication request (e.g.,the communication request 1099 of FIG. 10). In some implementations, theaccount communication profile is generated based on an API of thecommunication platform 900 (e.g., an API of the communication API module911, an API of the profile repository 916 of FIG. 9, and the like). Insome implementations, the account communication profile is provided viaan API of the communication platform 900 (e.g., an API of thecommunication API module 911, an API of the profile repository 916 ofFIG. 9, and the like).

In some implementations, selection of at least one communicationprovider specified in the matching routing address record includesaccessing a communication profile stored in the profile repository 916of FIG. 9, and using the accessed communication profile to select the atleast one communication provider. In some implementations, accessing acommunication profile stored in the profile repository 916 includes:determining whether the profile repository includes an accountcommunication profile that specifies the communication platform 900account identifier of the external system that is provided in thecommunication request (e.g., 1099 of FIG. 10); in a case where theprofile repository 916 includes an account communication profile thatspecifies the account identifier of the external system, the accountcommunication profile is used to select the at least one communicationprovider; and in a case where the repository 916 does not include anaccount communication profile that specifies the account identifier ofthe external system, a global communication profile of the platform 900is used to select the at least one communication provider.

In some implementations, selection of at least one communicationprovider specified in the matching routing address record includesaccessing an account communication profile from the communicationrequest (e.g., 1099), and using the accessed account communicationprofile to select the at least one communication provider.

In some implementations, the communication profile specifies at least apriority and a weight for at least one communication provider. In someimplementations, the priority and weight for each communication providerspecified in the communication profile are used during selection of oneor more communication providers from communication providers specifiedin the matching routing address record.

In some embodiments, the communication profile specifies parametersassociated with the different communication providers, such as qualityscore, regional associations (e.g., related country codes or area codesor geographic proximity), quota prioritizations, internal cost (e.g.,cost to the platform), effective internal cost (e.g., cost to transmitrequested content considering transforming the content into multiplemessages), and/or any suitable parameter used in selecting acommunication provider.

In some embodiments, the quota prioritization parameter is used toprioritize a communication provider in response to a contractualobligation. Some communication providers can be maintained throughcontractual obligations of meeting a quota of communications (e.g.,number of calls, number of messages, rate of communication). This quotaprioritization parameter can be dynamically updated or fixed based onthe communication restriction. The quota prioritization can be used topositively count towards the selection of the associated communicationprovider (e.g., if a system wants to meet a certain quota of messages)or alternatively negative impact selection (e.g., if a system wants toavoid going over a limit).

In some implementations, the relative properties for the associatedcommunication providers are used to generate a communication providerpriority list. In some implementations, the communication providerpriority list is a customized list of communication providersprioritized for a particular communication request. Multiplecommunication provider are prioritized in order of preference. In someimplementations, the listed communication providers may not haveindicated preference and be a sub-set of the full set of communicationproviders.

In some implementations, an external system having an account at thecommunication platform 900 can configure communication profiles, whichfunction to define communication providers and communication providerpreferences for particular accounts and/or subsets of communicationwithin an account of the communication platform 900.

In some implementations, communication providers, (e.g., OTT's) may beregistered for a communication destination, and since most of thecommunication provider registration is achieved organically based onuser activity, there will not be a uniform set of options across allcommunication destinations. Additionally, an external system (e.g., of acommunication provider, such as, for example, an OTT provider) having anaccount at the communication platform 900 can configure a communicationprofile for its account at the platform 900 to allow communicationoriginating from the external system to be terminated in particularcommunication provider services. For example social network A (having anaccount at the communication platform 900) may not want messages toautomatically rerouted to social network B if social network A is notregistered. In some implementations, a communication profile can existfor a particular communication provider. In some implementations, acommunication profile identifies approved (or conversely prohibited)communication providers for communications relating to a particularcommunication provider. Additionally, the set of approved communicationproviders can be prioritized so that communication can default to thenext highest priority if the first communication provider is notsuitable for a particular communication. For example, an OTTcommunication provider may want the communication to first be completedusing the OTT communication provider, but if that is not available anMMS communication provider is used, then an SMS communication provider,then finally a second selected OTT communication provider. In thisexample, a third OTT communication provider may not be part of thecommunication profile, and accordingly communication will not beterminated in the third OTT for the subset of communications related tothe communication profile. In some implementations, the communicationprofile can specify different options for different forms ofcommunication. For example, text messages may be defined to prioritizethe communication providers in one manner, while media messagesprioritize communication providers in a second manner. The communicationprofile can be set for each account of the communication platform 900.Preferably each OTT communication provider will have an OTT accountwithin the communication platform 900, within which an administrator canset the communication profile. Additionally, non-OTT accounts at thecommunication platform 900 can set communication profiles to define howcommunications are routed.

Process S1030, which includes providing a request to establishcommunication with the communication destination to each selectedcommunication provider, functions to control the communication platform900 to provide the request to establish communication with each selectedcommunication provider (e.g., the communication providers 931 and 932 ofFIG. 9) in accordance with the communication request (e.g., thecommunication request 1099 of FIG. 10). In some implementations, eachcommunication provider (e.g., the communication providers 931 and 932)receiving the request from the communication platform 900 establishescommunication with at least one device (e.g., the devices 943 and 944)corresponding to the communication destination of the communicationrequest (e.g., the communication request 1099 of FIG. 10). In someimplementations, each communication provider (e.g., the communicationproviders 931 and 932) receiving the request from the communicationplatform 900 establishes communication with at least one device endpoint(e.g., the device endpoints 953 and 954) of a device (e.g., the devices943 and 944) corresponding to the communication destination of thecommunication request.

In some implementations, the communication API module 911 of thecommunication system 910 of FIG. 9 receives the communication requestfrom the external system, and the external system provides thecommunication request via an API request. In some implementations, theprocess S1010 is performed by the determination module 914 of therouting system 920. In some implementations, the process S1020 isperformed by the selection module 915 of the routing system 920. In someimplementations, the content converter 917 of the communication system910 converts content of the communication request based on selection ofthe at least one communication provider at the process S1020. In someimplementations, the content converter 917 of the communication system910 converts content in a manner similar to that described above for thecontent converter 114 of FIG. 1.

6. Generating Routing Address Records

In some embodiments, the communication platform 900 generates eachrouting address record by, performing a process in accordance with FIGS.11A and 11B. For each communication provider 1101 (e.g., thecommunication providers 931 and 932 of FIG. 9), the communicationplatform 900 transmits a registration communication 1106 to a deviceendpoint 1102 (e.g., the device endpoints 953-954 of FIG. 9) associatedwith the communication destination responsive to a registration request1103 that identifies the communication provider 1101 and the deviceendpoint 1102 associated with the communication destination (processS1101).

In some implementations, the communication provider 1101 provides theregistration request 1103 to the communication platform 900 by using theregistration API module 912 of the endpoint information repository 930of FIG. 9.

The communication platform 900 specifies the communication provider 1101in the routing address record (stored by the endpoint informationrepository 930) in association with at least one of the communicationdestination and the corresponding device endpoint 1102 responsive to anendpoint conformation response 1104 provided by at least one of thedevice endpoint 1102 and the communication provider 1101 (processS1102). The communication platform 900 provides a registrationconfirmation response 1105 to the communication provider 1101 responsiveto the endpoint confirmation response 1104 received by the communicationplatform 900 (process S1103). In the implementation shown in FIG. 11A,the device endpoint 1102 provides the endpoint conformation response1104 to the communication platform 900. In the implementation shown inFIG. 11A, the device endpoint 1102 provides the endpoint conformationresponse 1104 to the communication provider 1101, and the communicationprovider 1101 provides the endpoint conformation response 1104 to thecommunication platform 900.

Thus, the communication platform 900 confirms a communication providerfor each communication destination registered for the communicationprovider in accordance with the process described above for FIGS. 11Aand 11B. In accordance with the process described above for FIGS. 11Aand 11B, the communication platform 900 specifies the confirmedcommunication provider 1101 in the routing address record thatcorresponds to the registration request 1103 to register thecommunication provider 1101 for the communication destination.

In some implementations, responsive to the confirmation response (e.g.,1105) provided by the communication platform to the communicationprovider at the process S1103, the communication provider associates thecommunication destination with a user account of a user of thecommunication provider, and the communication provider stores theassociation at the communication provider.

The process of FIGS. 11A-11B functions to allow a communication providerto register and verify an endpoint (e.g., 1102) to associate with anaccount on the communication provider. The communication provider willpreferably trigger the process of FIG. 11A or 11B when a user isregistering for an account at the communication provider or pairing anew device to an account at the communication provider. After the newdevice endpoint 1102 is paired through the registration process, thecommunication platform 900 can use the communication provider 1101 as anadditional communication provider available for establishingcommunication with the device endpoint 1102.

In some implementations, the registration request 1103 includes accountinformation of an account of the communication platform 900. The accountinformation can include authentication token(s), an account identifier,communication provider identifier, or any suitable source information.The communication provider 1101 will preferably initiate theregistration API call when a customer attempts to pair a phone number orother communication endpoint with an account on the communicationprovider 1101. For example, within an account page on a communicationprovider 1101, a user can enter a phone number and submit the number.The communication provider 1101 will preferably send the API request tothe communication platform 900 to complete the registration. From theuser standpoint, the communication platform 900 is transparent. Aftersubmitting the phone number, the user will preferably receive acommunication on his or her phone, which the user will be able confirm.The communication platform 900 can alternatively provide alternativeinterfaces to the communication providers. For example, an embeddable UIcan be provided for facilitating registration user interface. The UI canbe embedded in the communication provider 1101 website or application(e.g., as an iframe) to facilitate receiving registration.

In some implementations, the process S1101 functions to deliver amessage or communicate with the device endpoint 1102. Preferably thecommunication platform 900 has at least one communication provideravailable for establishing communication with the device endpoint 1102.In implementations in which the device endpoint 1102 is a phone number,a SMS or MMS message can be delivered to the device endpoint 1102.Alternatively, an automated voice call can be delivered over PSTN, SIP,or an alternative VoIP communication protocol (e.g., WebRTC).

In some implementations, the registration communication 1106 includes acode or an alternative identifier. In some implementations, theregistration communication 1106 includes a 6 digit pin that can beentered within an application, website, or any suitable interface. Theentering of the pin codes signals successful delivery of theregistration communication 1106 and that the owner of the deviceendpoint 1102 is confirming the registration. In some implementations,the registration communication 1106 includes a unique URI. When thedelivered, the user can click the link to confirm the registration.Since the URI is unique, access of the resource can signal confirmationof the registration. Alternatively, the URI may display options toconfirm or deny the registration. In some implementations, theregistration communication 1106 is a message specifying responseoptions. The message could be a text message, an image, a video, or anysuitable media message. In some implementations, transmitting aregistration communication 1106 includes making a voice or video call.The voice or video call can be used to receive confirmation or some formof a response during the call (e.g., through DTMF or voice recognition).

In some implementations, the process 1102 functions to determine theresults of the registration with the device endpoint 1102. Theconfirmation response 1104 preferably includes confirmation of pairingthe device endpoint 1102 with the communication provider 1101. The userwill preferably be expecting the communication 1106 and will know thatconfirming will complete the process. In some implementations, theconfirmation response 1104 is received from the device endpoint 1102 inresponse to the registration communication 1106. For example, theconformation response 1104 is an SMS or MMS message reply. The messagereply can include a response such as “YES” or “NO” to indicate if theendpoint should or should not be registered in association with therequest. The confirmation response 1104 may alternatively be made duringthe registration communication 1106 if the registration communication isa synchronous communication. In implementations in which a pincode isentered in an interface, the interface could be one created and providedby the communication provider 1101 or any suitable outside provider. AnAPI call is preferably provided to inform the communication platform 900of the user response. The communication provider (or outside provider)can use the API call to inform the communication platform 900 (e.g., asshown in FIG. 11B).

The registration process can additionally include verifying a devicethrough an endpoint repository (e.g., the endpoint informationrepository 930 of FIG. 9), which functions to use existing endpointinformation to add an additional layer in registration. Thecommunication provider 1101 may not have access to information outsideof their own platform, but the multi-modal communication aspect of thecommunication platform 900 can enable insights to be pulled fromprevious registrations and/or communications. The communication platform900 will preferably retain information about various endpoints in theendpoint repository 930. In some cases an endpoint may already beregistered with other communication providers or otherwise be knownwithin the communication platform 900 due to prior communicationinteractions. The past history of a known endpoint can be used inconfirming registration. In some implementations, automatic verificationof a device endpoint (e.g., 1102) may be enabled if the endpoint isalready confirmed through another communication provider. In someimplementations, the verifying of the device may use fraud detectionheuristics or other triggers to prevent confirmation of theregistration.

In some implementations, the process S1102 functions to record theregistration of an endpoint (e.g., 1102) with a new communicationprovider (e.g., 1101). The endpoint repository 930 will preferablyinclude a set of records for different endpoints. Each endpoint recordwill preferably include a parameter or parameters that define the set ofcommunication providers. The set of communication providers preferablyinclude the communication providers that have registered with theendpoint. A communication provider registration can indicate that theuser of the endpoint has paired an account of the communication providerwith the phone. In some situations, this registration can be a signalthat an application of the communication provider is used by the user orat least has been used by the user.

In some implementations, the endpoint repository 930 is used beyondregistration but in facilitating and tracking communication through thecommunication provider. The endpoint repository 930 can be updated andmaintained to signal different aspects of the endpoint and relatedcommunication providers. In some implementations, the endpointrepository 930 stores information relating to the history of eachcommunication provider such as a registration timestamp, time of lastcommunication through the communication provider on the communicationplatform 900, preference rating of an communication provider (e.g.,order ranking of communication providers according to frequency of use).In some implementations, the endpoint repository 930 is used insynchronizing changes amongst communication providers. In someimplementations, a change of registration of one communication providermay be applied to other communication provider registrations. Forexample, if a user gets a new phone number and updates the registrationfor a first communication provider, then the process may includenotifying a second communication provider previously registered of thephone number change, automatically migrating the updated number for thesecond communication provider, invalidating the registration of thesecond communication provider until re-registered, and/or any suitableaction.

In some implementations, the process S1103 functions to update thecommunication provider 1101 of the registration result. In someimplementations, the signaling of the confirmation response includes aconfirmation that the endpoint 1102 successfully completed registrationor that the registration was not successfully confirmed. Unsuccessfulconfirmation may simply be a denial of registration, but the denial orerror response may additionally include a reason such as cancellation(e.g., user changes his mind) or fraud reporting (e.g., user did notinitiate the registration and flags the request). The signaling can beperformed in a variety of approaches. In a first variation, theconfirmation response 1105 is included in a response to the registrationrequest API call 1103. In another variation, the confirmation response1105 is posted or submitted to a specified resource of the communicationprovider 1101. In yet another variation, a resource in the communicationplatform 900 is updated, and the communication provider 1101 can pollthe resource to obtain the status. For example, the registration requestAPI call 1103 may trigger a response from the communication platform 900that includes a resource identifier (e.g., a URI). The communicationprovider 1101 can poll the resource identifier until the confirmationresponse is obtained. Prior to receiving a confirmation response, theresource identifier can return a ‘pending’ response or an alternativeresponse to indicate that the registration process is still in progress.

In some implementations, the registration process includes providingendpoint information of the endpoint repository 930, which functions toenable access, use, and interaction with the endpoint repository 930(e.g., via the API module 912). Providing endpoint informationpreferably includes providing API access to at least a portion of theinformation of the endpoint repository 930. The API access preferablyincludes public API access that is usable by customers/users. The APIaccess may alternatively or additionally be private used within thecommunication platform 900. In one variation, an API call can query aspecific endpoint and retrieve information about communication providerregistration with the endpoint. As discussed above, the usage relatingto each communication provider may additionally be accessible. A portionof the API may be opened publically so that any entity can check if aparticular endpoint is registered with a specific communicationprovider. In another variation, some or all the information may belimited to communication provider associated accounts in thecommunication platform 900. The communication provider can have aspecial account set up (e.g., the account used to submit theregistration requests). In one variation, the communication provider canquery all the phone numbers registered for the communication provider.After registration, a communication provider can additionally updateregistration such as canceling/terminating registration.

7. Method for a Multi-Tenant Communication Platform

A method for a multi-tenant communication platform (e.g., 900 of FIG. 9)in accordance with an example embodiment includes, at a multi-tenantcommunication platform (e.g., the platform 900 of FIG. 9): receiving arequest (e.g., the communication request 1099 of FIG. 10) to establishcommunication, the request being provided by an external system (e.g.,the external systems 921-923) and specifying a communication destinationand an account identifier of the external system; determining whetherthe account identifier is a valid account identifier of an account thatis permitted to establish communication by using the communicationplatform. Responsive to a determination that the account identifier is avalid account identifier of an account that is permitted to establishcommunication by using the communication platform: at least onecommunication provider (e.g., the communication providers 931 and 932)is determined for the communication destination based on an a routingaddress record (e.g., the routing address records 1081-1083 of FIG. 10)matching the communication destination. The matching routing addressrecord associates the communication destination with one or morecommunication providers, and the routing address record is stored at thecommunication platform (e.g., in the endpoint information repository 930of FIG. 9). Each communication provider (e.g., the providers 921-923) isexternal to the communication platform 900. One or more of thedetermined at least one communication provider is selected, and arequest to establish communication with the communication destination isprovided to each selected communication provider. The communicationplatform 900 generates the matching routing address record based onregistration information (e.g., request 1103 and response 1104 of FIGS.11A and 11B) provided to the communication platform for thecommunication destination by each determined communication provider. Thecommunication destination matches at least one of a routing addressidentifier and a deterministic endpoint address specified in thematching routing address record.

In some embodiments, the methods disclosed herein are implemented in themulti-tenant communication platform 900 of FIG. 9. In some embodiments,the methods are implemented in any suitable type of multi-tenantcommunication platform.

8. System Architecture

FIG. 12 is an architecture diagram of a system (e.g., the system 901 ofthe communication platform 900 of FIG. 9) according to an implementationin which the system 901 is implemented in a server device. In someimplementations, the communication system is implemented in a pluralityof devices. In some implementations, the communication system 910, therouting system 920, the endpoint information repository 930, and theprofile repository 916 are implemented in separate devices (e.g., serverdevices). In some implementations, two or more of the communicationsystem 910, the routing system 920, the endpoint information repository930, and the profile repository 916 are implemented in same devices(e.g., a server device).

The bus 1201 interfaces with the processors 1201A-1201N, the main memory(e.g., a random access memory (RAM)) 1222, a read only memory (ROM)1204, a processor-readable storage medium 1205, a display device 1207, auser input device 1208, and a network device 1211.

The processors 1201A-1201N may take many forms, such as ARM processors,X86 processors, and the like.

In some implementations, the system 901 includes at least one of acentral processing unit (processor) and a multi-processor unit (MPU).

The processors 1201A-1201N and the main memory 1222 form a processingunit 1299. In some embodiments, the processing unit includes one or moreprocessors communicatively coupled to one or more of a RAM, ROM, andmachine-readable storage medium; the one or more processors of theprocessing unit receive instructions stored by the one or more of a RAM,ROM, and machine-readable storage medium via a bus; and the one or moreprocessors execute the received instructions. In some embodiments, theprocessing unit is an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Insome embodiments, the processing unit is a SoC (System-on-Chip). In someembodiments, the processing unit includes one or more of thecommunication system 910, the routing system 920, the endpointinformation repository 930, and the profile repository 916.

The network adapter device 1211 provides one or more wired or wirelessinterfaces for exchanging data and commands between the system 901 andother devices, such as devices of the external systems 921-932, thecommunication providers 931 and 932, and the devices 943 and 944. Suchwired and wireless interfaces include, for example, a universal serialbus (USB) interface, Bluetooth interface, Wi-Fi interface, Ethernetinterface, near field communication (NFC) interface, and the like.

Machine-executable instructions in software programs (such as anoperating system, application programs, and device drivers) are loadedinto the memory 1222 (of the processing unit 1299) from theprocessor-readable storage medium 1205, the ROM 1204 or any otherstorage location. During execution of these software programs, therespective machine-executable instructions are accessed by at least oneof processors 1201A-1201N (of the processing unit 1299) via the bus1201, and then executed by at least one of processors 1201A-1201N. Dataused by the software programs are also stored in the memory 1222, andsuch data is accessed by at least one of processors 1201A-1201N duringexecution of the machine-executable instructions of the softwareprograms.

The processor-readable storage medium 1205 is one of (or a combinationof two or more of) a hard drive, a flash drive, a DVD, a CD, an opticaldisk, a floppy disk, a flash storage, a solid state drive, a ROM, anEEPROM, an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, and thelike. The processor-readable storage medium 1205 includes an operatingsystem 1212, software programs 1213, device drivers 1214, thecommunication system 910, the routing system 920, the endpointinformation repository 930, and the profile repository 916.

CONCLUSION

The system and methods of the preferred embodiment and variationsthereof can be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machineconfigured to receive a computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable instructions. The instructions are preferably executedby computer-executable components preferably integrated with thecommunication system. The computer-readable medium can be stored on anysuitable computer-readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flash memory,EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppy drives, or anysuitable device. The computer-executable component is preferably ageneral or application specific processor, but any suitable dedicatedhardware or hardware/firmware combination device can alternatively oradditionally execute the instructions.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention defined in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: at a multi-tenantcommunication platform: receiving a request to establish communication,the request being provided by an external system and specifying acommunication destination and an account identifier of the externalsystem; determining whether the account identifier is a valid accountidentifier of an account that is permitted to establish communication byusing the communication platform; responsive to a determination that theaccount identifier is a valid account identifier of an account that ispermitted to establish communication by using the communicationplatform: determining at least one communication provider for thecommunication destination based on an a routing address record matchingthe communication destination, the matching routing address recordassociating the communication destination with one or more communicationproviders, the routing address record being stored at the communicationplatform, each communication provider being external to thecommunication platform; selecting one or more of the determined at leastone communication provider; and providing a request to establishcommunication with the communication destination to each selectedcommunication provider, wherein the communication platform generates thematching routing address record based on registration informationprovided to the communication platform for the communication destinationby each determined communication provider, and wherein the communicationdestination matches at least one of a routing address identifier and adeterministic endpoint address specified in the matching routing addressrecord.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein if the communicationdestination matches both of a routing address identifier of a firstrouting address record and a deterministic endpoint address of a secondrouting address record, information of the second routing address recordis used to determine the at least one communication provider.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the communication platform generates therouting address record based on registration information provided to thecommunication platform for the communication destination by eachdetermined communication provider, and confirmation information providedto the communication platform by each device endpoint associated withregistration information provided to the communication platform.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one determined communicationprovider includes at least one of an SMS service provider, MMS serviceprovider, push notification service provider, IP messaging serviceprovider, proprietary third party OTT messaging service provider,proprietary third party OTT communication service provider, PSTN serviceprovider, SIP voice service provider, Video communication serviceprovider, screensharing service provider, fax service provider, andemail service provider.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thecommunication destination is at least one of a phone number, an emailaddress, an IP address, and an account identifier of a communicationprovider.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to establishcommunication is authenticated by using the account identifier, and therequest is denied in a case where the request is not authenticated. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein communication providers included in arouting address record are communication providers that have registeredwith the communication platform.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereincommunication providers included in a routing address record for adeterministic endpoint address are communication providers that haveregistered with the communication platform for the communicationdestination and that have been confirmed by a device endpoint associatedwith the communication destination.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereindetermining at least one communication provider comprises: accessing arouting address record that matches the communication destination andthe account identifier of the external system.
 10. The method of claim9, wherein the communication destination is associated with a pluralityof communication providers.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein selectingat least one communication provider comprises: selecting based on acommunication profile, wherein the communication profile is one of aglobal communication profile and an account communication profileassociated with the account identifier of the external system, theaccount communication profile being generated based on at least one ofthe request to establish communication and an API of the communicationplatform.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: confirming thecommunication provider for the communication destination; and specifyingthe confirmed communication provider in the routing address record forthe communication destination.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinconfirming the communication provider comprises: at the communicationplatform: receiving a registration request that identifies thecommunication provider and a device endpoint associated with thecommunication destination; transmitting a registration communication tothe device endpoint; receiving a confirmation response provided by atleast one of the device endpoint and the communication provider;specifying the confirmed communication provider and the device endpointin the routing address record for the communication destination; andproviding a confirmation response to the communication provider.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein responsive to the confirmation response, thecommunication provider associates the communication destination with anaccount of the communication provider, and stores the association at thecommunication provider.
 15. A method comprising: at a multi-tenantcommunication platform, and responsive to authentication of acommunication request provided by an external system, the communicationrequest specifying a communication destination and account information:determining a routing address record of the communication platform thatmatches the communication destination of the communication request, thematching routing address record associating the communicationdestination with a plurality of external communication providers;selecting at least one communication provider associated with thematching routing address record; and providing a request to establishcommunication with the communication destination to each selectedcommunication provider.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the matchingrouting address record is stored at the communication platform, and,wherein the communication platform generates the matching routingaddress record based on registration information provided to thecommunication platform for the communication destination by eachcommunication provider associated with the matching routing addressrecord, and wherein the communication destination matches at least oneof a routing address identifier and a deterministic endpoint addressspecified in the matching routing address record.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising: maintaining a plurality of routing addressrecords at the communication platform, each routing address recordassociating a communication destination with a plurality ofcommunication providers external to the communication platform.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the account information includes an accountidentifier for the external system and an authentication tokenassociated with the account identifier, and wherein authentication ofthe communication request comprises using a communication system of thecommunication platform to authenticate the communication request byusing the authentication token, and determine that the communicationrequest is permitted for an account identified by the accountidentifier.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting at least onecommunication provider associated with the matching routing addressrecord comprises: selecting at least one communication provider based ona communication profile, wherein the communication profile is one of aglobal communication profile and an account communication profileassociated with the account identifier of the external system, theaccount communication profile being generated based on at least one ofthe communication request and an API of the communication platform. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the communication platform generates thematching routing address record by, for each communication provider:transmitting a registration communication to a device endpointassociated with the communication destination responsive to aregistration request that identifies the communication provider and thedevice endpoint associated with the communication destination;specifying the communication provider in the routing address record inassociation with the device endpoint responsive to an endpointconformation response provided by at least one of the device endpointand the communication provider; and providing a registrationconfirmation response to the communication provider.